Anthony Joshua has reacted to the news that negotiations for an undisputed heavyweight bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have collapsed.
The Ukrainian’s side have officially ‘pulled the plug’ on the idea of a four-belt clash with Fury, citing ‘unacceptable’ demands and ‘disrespect’ as the reason.
It’s news that has left fans bemoaning the state of boxing once more, especially as the fight looked likely when Usyk conceded to taking just 30% of the purse recently.
‘AJ’ has been a keen observer not only as a top heavyweight in the division, but because of his well-publicised goal of becoming undisputed himself. Usyk saw that unlikely by beating him twice consecutively, taking his unified titles the first time and keeping them the second.
Despite the losses, Joshua pointed to the fact that the fights were actually made – something Fury likely won’t be able to claim.
“Look at all the s*** they are going through now with this Usyk stuff. It’s just crazy. I don’t publicise things so it’s actually good that people are starting to see what goes on in negotiations.
It’s good that people can actually see the s*** that people have got to put up with to make a fight, Me and Usyk got two successful fights done. It’s just crazy.”
The Olympic Gold Medalist has first hand experience of negotiations with Fury, too. The pair entered spontaneous talks late last year after Joshua lost the rematch to Usyk.
It was a period littered with public demands and deadlines from Fury that Joshua couldn’t commit to, and ultimately no fight was made.
Unfortunately, the same looks to have happened again, and Lennox Lewis looks to remain the most recent undisputed heavyweight champion for some time yet – even if it was two decades ago.